A few months ago when Craig Wright first leaked documents to news outlets to attempt to out himself as Satoshi, it came to light that his company was the recipient of $54 Million in R&D subsidies from the Australian Tax Office, for which he was under investigation (and later had his home raided). In order to qualify for the subsidies, Wright claimed to have spent millions of dollars on R&D. However, his company did not spend a cent on R&D. He claimed that he "signed over the rights" to millions of dollars worth of bitcoin to a third party, and that it was spent on R&D. This was detailed in a company document. (The document was taken offline. If someone happened to save a copy, please post it. It used to be here: http://demorgan.com.au/assets/150511_demorgan_54mausindustryrebate.pdf).

In this document, he allegedly "signs over the rights" to his satoshi coins to a third party, which could (conveniently) only be loaned back to him for R&D purposes. Also, like a child, he calls out the person who is investigating him from the ATO in this document. Paraphrased: "See! I told you I was Satoshi! Now get off my back" https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2644014-Tulip-Trust-Redacted.html

Are you starting to see the motive here?

Long story short, the Australain government wasn't buying the story that he was satoshi nakamoto and that he spent millions of dollars worth of bitcoin on R&D. His only way out would be to somehow convince the ATO that he is in fact Nakamoto, and does in fact own the bitcoin that he claimed to spend on R&D.

When asked about this in the BBC interview, he made it seem as though the Australian Tax Office was investigating him because they wanted him to pay taxes on his alleged bitcoin holdings. This is 100% false. They are coming after him for claiming to own Satoshi's coins and spending them to get a large R&D subsidy. The fact that he misrepresented the situation rather than addressing the actual issue when asked about it in the interview is very telling with regard to his likely motive.

A person who, by any deception, dishonestly: (a) obtains property belonging to another, or (b) obtains any financial advantage or causes any financial disadvantage, is guilty of the offence of fraud. Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

That's normally how things implode for a conman like this. He put himself in a position where he is claiming to be someone he is not, and he can't provide the easy-to-produce proof that he is that person since he isn't. Everything else falls apart as lies stack on lies trying to explain everything away.

He has to prove to ATO not only that the 54 million in R&D investment was real but that it was actually spent on research. Convincing the ATF that he's Satoshi is not enough. I'm not quite sure what his endgame is. The whole thing smells of desperation.

Wright wanted those subsidies and was capable of faking the tech expenditures needed to qualify for them, but he needed a plausible explanation for the source of the funds. So he claimed to be SN and pretended to set up a trust in Seychelles where he knew the document couldn't be verified.

Wright actually is Satoshi and did set up the trust, but he lost control of it when Kleinman died. Now he has to convince the ATO that the funds are real (to avoid fraud charges) but he can't access them to provide proof via key signature. So he has to fabricate evidence to prove what is actually true. That's why he was able to convince Gavin but not provide a real signed message.

Both of these seem plausible to me. 1 actually seems quite plausible because it would help him have any fraud charges possibly dropped because he can argue that the R & D expenditure was all legitimate and the Bitcoin funds kick started the business. He may still owe some taxes on those original Bitcoin transactions but owing tax is a lot better than being charged with fraud.

CW is dangerous. He has 54 million dollars to hire PR companies, hire online trolls, and to attack anyone who disagrees with him. And if he loses his gambit, which he will, he gets to keep none of it. When he finally gets sent to prison the news headlines will read: "Bitcoin creator convicted of tax fraud."

Where I depart from the op is that I think it is still possible that Wright was BOTH Satoshi and defrauding the ATO. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Proving (or 'proving') he is Satoshi is not necessarily a defence for Wright because the ATO will still be able to show that Wright engaged in some deceptive conduct in relation to the R & D credits. If they can prove this - Wright is sunk for fraud anyway. Satoshi or no Satoshi.

I think Wright is now hiding out in Iceland because he is cooked. It seems like a pretty clear case of tax fraud if you ask me.

If he used fraud to receive the money, then this has nothing to do with calling himself Satoshi. That's not his legal name. If someone dispensing the grants, made a decision on that basis, then they were acting outside of their authority. It's not even perjury to call oneself Satoshi, unless it's under oath, and even then, it's not a legal name. There would be no basis for retribution, based on that.

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